Art & Exhibitions
In Pictures: See Highlights of the Once-in-a-Lifetime Raphael Exhibition Shuttered by Italy’s Coronavirus Lockdown
The unprecedented exhibition marks 500 years since the death of the Renaissance master.
Naomi Rea
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Every museum in Italy is closed now that the entire country is in a lockdown in order to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. That includes the once-in-a-lifetime exhibition in Rome on Raphael, which marks the 500th anniversary since the Renaissance master’s death.
The remarkable exhibition at the Scuderie del Quirinale celebrates the brief life of Raphael with more than 200 works by the artist. It’s the largest show ever dedicated to the artist, including some 120 paintings and drawings by Raphael himself as well as other materials relating to Raphael.
The show has been co-organized with the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, which has loaned some 50 works to the show, a controversial decision that prompted the museum’s scientific committee to resign en masse due to the fragility of one of the masterpieces, a portrait of Pope Leo X.
Raphael, Portrait of Pope Leo X with Cardinals Giulio de’ Medici and Luigi de’ Rossi (1518). Fotografico delle Gallerie degli Uffizi – Su concessione del Ministero per i Beni e le Attività Culturali e del Turismo.
Loans from the Borghese Gallery, the Louvre, the Vatican Museums, London’s National Gallery, and the Prado, among others, are also included in the exhibition, which was curated by Marzia Faietti and Matteo Lafranconi.
The exhibition, titled “Raphael 1520–1483,” officially opened on March 5 and was slated to run until June 2 before it was shuttered, along with Italy’s other museums, on March 8. It will remain closed until further notice.
More than 60,000 tickets were pre-sold for the exhibition, and with the future of Italy’s lockdown uncertain, many fear they may forever miss their chance to see the show it in person.
That’s why we’ve brought it to you here, in pictures.
Raphael, Portrait of a woman in the role of Venus (Fornarina) (c.1519-1520). Rome, Gallerie Nazionali di Arte Antica – Palazzo Barberini. Gallerie Nazionali di Arte Antica, Roma. (MIBACT) – Biblioteca Hertziana, Istituto Max Planck per la storia dell’arte/Enrico Fontolan.
Raphael, Virgin with the Child (Madonna Tempi)(1507-1508). Monaco, Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlung Alte Pinakothek. ©BAYERISCHE STAATSGEMÄLDESAMMLUNGEN.
Raphael, Studies for the Disputation of the Holy Sacrament and a sonnet (c.1509-11). London, the British Museum, Department of Prints and Drawings. ©The Trustees of the British Museum.
Baldassarre Castiglione, Letter to Pope Leone X (1519). Mantova, Archivio di Stato. Archivio di Stato, Mantova / Per concessione del Ministero per i Beni e le Attività Culturali e del Turismo.
Raphael, Horse of the ancient Dioscuri group on the Quirinal Hill (c.1513). Washington, DC, National Gallery of Art. ©National Gallery of Art, Washington.
Raphael, Portrait of a woman called “La Velata”(c.1512-1513). Firenze, Gallerie degli Uffizi, Galleria Palatina. Gabinetto fotografico delle Gallerie degli Uffizi – Su concessione del Ministero per i Beni e le Attività Culturali e del Turismo.
Raphael, Portrait of Giulio II (before March 1512). London, The National Gallery. Bought, 1824. ©The National Gallery, London.
Raphael, Madonna and Child with Saint John the Baptist (Alba Madonna) (c.1510). Washington, DC, National Gallery of Art, Andrew W. Mellon Collection. ©National Gallery of Art, Washington.
Raphael, Portrait of Baldassarre Castiglione (1513). Paris, Musée du Louvre, département des Peintures. ©Musée du Louvre, Dist. RMN – Grand Palais / Angèle Dequier.
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